William Redington Hewlett

HP (Hewlett-Packard)

David Packard

William "Bill" Redington Hewlett (May 20, 1913 – January 12, 2001) was an engineer and the co-founder, with David Packard, of the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP). He was one of the twentieth century's most remarkable men, and one of America's most uncommon. This quiet, self-effacing man, together with his longtime friend and partner, David Packard, changed the world and helped usher in the modern technological age. Their co-founding of the Hewlett-Packard Company in 1939 (Hewlett won the coin-toss to decide which name would come first and which second in naming the company) was Silicon Valley's defining partnership. It was also the valley's first major start-up company, and one of its most successful, ranking at Hewlett's death as the nation's thirteenth largest business, with annual sales of nearly $50 billion and some ninety thousand employees in 120 countries.

With Bill Hewlett, David Packard was co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Company. In September 1993, he retired as chairman of the board and was named chairman emeritus. He served in that position until his death on March 26, 1996. Packard was born Sept. 7, 1912, in Pueblo, Colo. He attended Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., and received a bachelor of arts degree in 1934 and a master's degree in electrical engineering in 1939. From 1936 to 1938, Packard was an engineer with the General Electric Co. in Schenectady, N.Y. In 1938, he returned to Palo Alto and the following year formed a partnership known as Hewlett-Packard Company with William R. Hewlett, a friend and Stanford classmate.